WEBVTT - Safe Haven | 6 0:00:01.760 --> 0:00:05.400 Imagine a digital currency that can be traded throughout the 0:00:05.440 --> 0:00:09.200 Internet that was linked to gold. This is what the 0:00:09.280 --> 0:00:11.119 digital Gold Bank is all about. 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:16.079 Gold, the glinting promise of treasure that drove people from 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:19.439 all around the country and the world to Australia back 0:00:19.480 --> 0:00:23.600 in the eighteen fifties during our gold rush, the influx 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:27.280 of prospectors, helping to shape our country into the multicultural 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:31.200 nation we now know. The precious metal is sometimes tilted 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:35.000 as a recession proof investment, But what Alan metcalf is 0:00:35.000 --> 0:00:38.000 talking about in this YouTube video is not physical gold. 0:00:39.000 --> 0:00:43.040 It's a digital concept gold that you can't see or touch, 0:00:43.600 --> 0:00:48.279 but which can be bought and traded entirely online. More significantly, 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:51.959 this scheme is the first evidence I find of Alan's 0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:53.440 money going overseas. 0:00:54.120 --> 0:00:58.840 Digital monetization means that through the safe world system, we 0:00:58.960 --> 0:01:03.960 can turn products and services into digital currency. Combined digital 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:08.679 monetization with gold, and instantaneously we have a way to 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:13.039 restore and sustain the credibility of the world economy. We 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:16.720 also have a safe haven to hold the retirement savings 0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:17.400 of the world. 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:21.920 Everything Alan has just said seems a bit insincere to me, 0:01:22.080 --> 0:01:25.640 a bit like fool's gold. He can't have seriously believed 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:29.280 it that his bank was going to single handedly kickstart 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:33.000 the world economy and become a one stop shop for 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:36.440 people to invest their retirement money. But it was becoming 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:39.520 harder to squeeze more money out of investors, so in 0:01:39.560 --> 0:01:43.320 twenty fifteen, Alan came up with this wild plan. This 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:46.520 was the latest add on to his original Safe World's concept, 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:51.480 which was already ambitious and confusing enough for investors. Now 0:01:51.640 --> 0:01:54.680 Safewolds was going to have its own currency and bank 0:01:55.200 --> 0:01:59.480 was called Digital Gold. Alan claimed to have the minus touch. 0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:02.720 His Digital Gold Bank would be a safe place for 0:02:02.760 --> 0:02:06.440 investors to store their money and watch it prosper, but 0:02:06.480 --> 0:02:09.880 it was also a haven of another type, a tax haven. 0:02:10.520 --> 0:02:14.760 Alan had started the business sixteen thousand kilometers away at 0:02:14.760 --> 0:02:19.400 a place known as the Cayman Islands. I'm Alex Turner Cohen, 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:23.320 a finance and investigative reporter from US dot com dot AU, 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:36.919 and you're listening to the Missing forty nine Million. This 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:39.160 is episode six Safe Haven. 0:02:41.080 --> 0:02:45.080 I am in Grand Cayman Island today and have just 0:02:45.200 --> 0:02:49.200 taken the first step towards establishing the Digital Gold Bank. 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:53.160 This is the artificial intelligence program that we've been using 0:02:53.200 --> 0:02:57.480 throughout the series to recreate Alan's voice. Ai Allen is 0:02:57.520 --> 0:03:00.600 reading out an email that real Alan sent hundreds of 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:02.720 shareholders in April twenty fifteen. 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:08.320 Today, I incorporated the Cayman's company Digital Gold Standard. The 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:12.040 company can't be called the Digital Gold Bank until it 0:03:12.080 --> 0:03:13.919 acquires a banking license. 0:03:14.639 --> 0:03:17.440 I'd vaguely heard of the Cayman Islands before I started 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:20.520 this treasure hunt. It is located in the Caribbean and 0:03:20.560 --> 0:03:24.040 as a British overseas territory with a population of about 0:03:24.080 --> 0:03:28.400 sixty eight thousand citizens. The Grand Cayman is its biggest island, 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:32.079 and its sanswept beaches and golden sunrises are popular with tourists. 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:35.119 But that's not the main thing the Caymans are known for. 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:40.120 It's heaven for tax dodgers. The Cayman Islands is ranked 0:03:40.160 --> 0:03:44.000 as the greatest enabler of corporate tax abuse and topped 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:47.960 the Haven score ranking according to analysis done by campaign 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:52.600 group Tax Justice Network. Allan didn't shy away from its reputation, 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:55.400 though Later in the email, he said. 0:03:55.520 --> 0:03:59.760 Why has this new company been incorporated in Grand Cayman 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:03.480 Because it needs to be an international entity that can 0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:08.560 operate globally without conflicting taxation interests. This does not mean 0:04:08.600 --> 0:04:12.080 that we are seeking to avoid paying taxation. We simply 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:15.920 need to avoid paying double taxation. There is nothing illegal. 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:16.159 In this move. 0:04:18.279 --> 0:04:20.640 He goes on to say he had legal advice on 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:24.120 the issue. It's taken me ages to work out exactly 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:27.040 what this part of his business was up to. What's 0:04:27.080 --> 0:04:30.240 helped is that Allan made several YouTube videos, so I've 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:31.400 pieced some of it together. 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:36.840 Most honest economists today now agree that the world economy's 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:42.440 current woes all started when Richard Nixon removed the Goal 0:04:42.600 --> 0:04:47.200 standard in nineteen seventy one. Debt and the systematic destruction 0:04:47.320 --> 0:04:51.240 of the world economy has been out of control since 0:04:51.320 --> 0:04:55.760 that time. Consequently, people everywhere now live in the hope 0:04:55.880 --> 0:05:01.240 of somehow restoring the Goal's standard. Share this hope. 0:05:02.040 --> 0:05:05.760 It sounds sketchy when I look into it, though. Experts 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:09.080 do seem to agree that President Nixon's decision to delink 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:11.640 the US dollar from gold are sho in a new 0:05:11.680 --> 0:05:15.680 era of instability. I'm intrigued now, so I mine for 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:20.160 more information. One Safeworld's investor sends me a document titled 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:25.080 Digital Gold Standard investment memorandum. This booklet outlines Alan's plans 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:28.200 for his alternate currency. In it, Alan said he. 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:31.640 Wanted to create a digital economy for the world that 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:33.080 is backed by gold. 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:37.720 That's Alan's AI voice again. His memorandum to investors. 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:41.240 Continued, we will provide the way to monetize gold and 0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:45.880 silver and turn these valuable physical assets into an everyday 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:50.840 common electronic currency. We will also be re establishing the 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:55.240 gold standard that once existed and served the world economy. 0:05:55.320 --> 0:05:58.919 So well, this is all getting a bit weird for me. 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:02.280 People try maraid gold and silver futures all the time, 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:07.160 meaning they already effectively function as an everyday common digital currency. 0:06:08.000 --> 0:06:10.760 There was more. His digital gold was going to be 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:14.080 an alternative to PayPal, Alan said, and he even went 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:16.599 a step further and planned to issue his users with 0:06:16.680 --> 0:06:19.840 their own gold paid debit card. Alan had a mock 0:06:19.920 --> 0:06:23.080 up and everything in the information booklet showing the shiny 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:27.360 debit card he was proposing. He only needed a small amount, 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:31.200 he said, eight million dollars to get his gold bank 0:06:31.279 --> 0:06:34.719 off the ground, and gold and silver would be purchased 0:06:34.760 --> 0:06:38.680 with any leftover money. The best part, those who had 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:41.560 already invested might be able to convert their shares into 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:44.679 something real for the first time gold. 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:49.479 We're also aware of the increasing interest among investors to 0:06:49.680 --> 0:06:53.840 roll over their existing stock market holdings into gold and 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:58.400 or silver. Converting retirement accounts into gold and or silver 0:06:58.480 --> 0:07:00.799 accounts is increasingly popular. 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:04.960 Shares for this digital gold standard were selling for just 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:09.520 zero point zero one CeNSE each. The minimum investment was 0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:12.840 two thousand dollars. He was selling them the same way 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:15.960 as Safe World shares, through a bank transfer to a 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:20.680 US or Australian account. Allan said people were already interested 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:22.040 in asking questions. 0:07:22.880 --> 0:07:26.800 If Safe World's TV shares are so valuable, why is 0:07:26.880 --> 0:07:29.920 the company selling lots in this offer at such a 0:07:29.920 --> 0:07:34.880 low price. Because early stage funding is valuable. Investors who 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:37.760 are prepared to invest at the early stage of business 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:43.440 establishment expect and should get rewarded over and above what 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:49.200 later stage investors receive. The company is exploring the opportunity 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:52.760 to use our superior technology to produce a private and 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:56.400 secure digital wallet to support the goalpaid debit card. 0:07:57.280 --> 0:08:00.760 Okay, this part I recognize it sounds like some of 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:04.520 the cryptocurrency schemes that have become huge in recent years. 0:08:05.240 --> 0:08:08.160 They're a kind of digital payment system similar to what 0:08:08.280 --> 0:08:13.600 Alan is pitching, and since launching, cryptocurrencies have been wildly volatile. 0:08:14.440 --> 0:08:19.240 Alan even reference Bitcoin the world's biggest cryptocurrency later on 0:08:19.320 --> 0:08:20.240 in the INFOMEMO. 0:08:20.840 --> 0:08:25.600 In an electronic economy, electronic money is required. Because of this, 0:08:25.720 --> 0:08:29.920 we now see an increasing number of digital currencies being 0:08:30.000 --> 0:08:35.240 created and aggressively promoted to exploit this reality. Among these, 0:08:35.480 --> 0:08:39.000 Bitcoin is probably the most well known. The problem with 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:42.080 all the cyber currencies that are currently available is that 0:08:42.120 --> 0:08:45.880 they are not universal in nature, They are proprietary, and 0:08:45.920 --> 0:08:49.800 in some cases, like Bitcoin, their origin is unknown. 0:08:51.080 --> 0:08:54.599 He's right. Bitcoin's origin is kind of unknown. It was 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:56.840 set up in two thousand and nine by someone calling 0:08:56.920 --> 0:09:01.240 themselves to Toshi Nakamoto, only no one really knows who 0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:05.719 Nakamoto is. Apart from that, Bitcoin is pretty well established 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:10.240 as a transparent, digital only payment method. Alan seemed to 0:09:10.240 --> 0:09:12.120 be proposing an alternative to it. 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:17.120 When people hear digital gold, especially today, some people think 0:09:17.120 --> 0:09:20.160 about bitcoin because it's often referenced as digital gold. 0:09:20.520 --> 0:09:25.040 This is Tommy Honan, an analyst at Australian cryptocurrency exchange 0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:28.439 platform swift X. He's from Brisbane and we meet when 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:31.480 he comes to Sydney for a conference. I want to 0:09:31.520 --> 0:09:35.760 know what digital gold was. Was it cryptocurrency? Is this 0:09:35.800 --> 0:09:39.040 where investors money could have got to I send Tommy 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:42.880 the Digital Gold information memorandum before our face to face interview. 0:09:43.480 --> 0:09:46.600 It's almost like a white paper where Alan proposes his 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:49.480 methodology and what problem he's attempting to solve with his 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:53.760 gold bank concept, and something about it instantly strikes Tommy. 0:09:54.240 --> 0:09:58.120 I believe that the project white paper itself lends itself 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:00.440 directly from what a crypto white paper would look like, 0:10:00.480 --> 0:10:02.440 our blockchain project would look like. 0:10:03.000 --> 0:10:07.559 The blockchain is central to how cryptocurrency operates. Essentially, it's 0:10:07.600 --> 0:10:11.000 a way of recording every transaction anyone makes through crypto. 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:15.320 Blockchain gives us the ultimate transparency. Every transaction that goes 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:18.360 on chain is tracked. It is something that is filed 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:21.439 essentially in a ledger, in a book of transactions that 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:24.240 can be available on chain and visible to everyone at 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:24.840 any time. 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:28.079 Alan's own idea echoed this, as he. 0:10:28.080 --> 0:10:31.200 Declared nothing could be more transparent than this. 0:10:32.120 --> 0:10:35.320 Tommy also found that Allan's reasoning was quite similar to 0:10:35.360 --> 0:10:38.000 the fears that led to the creation of cryptocurrency. 0:10:38.440 --> 0:10:40.680 The world was on fire in terms of global markets. 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:42.360 We just see in the GFC kind of play out 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:46.240 thanks for failing. The Fiat currency system was under a 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:48.360 lot of strain. You know, you would have heard about 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:51.400 bank runs happening across the globe. I know people that 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:53.360 are definitely in that camp where they don't want to 0:10:53.400 --> 0:10:55.800 hold money in the banks. At that time, the original 0:10:55.880 --> 0:10:57.640 use case was, yeah, we don't trust anyone, so we 0:10:57.679 --> 0:10:59.800 want to create our own currency. We're not kind of 0:11:00.120 --> 0:11:02.960 self costody it as well, so no one nobody in 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:05.400 the world can get access to my money, and the 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:08.920 banks can collapse, the governments can collapse, but my value 0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:11.640 is still safe. So that's where it started. That's not 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:12.480 where we are today. 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:16.840 And maybe that fear that everything could collapse around you 0:11:17.440 --> 0:11:20.040 did make Allen look at gold as a safe investment. 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:25.080 Gold as an investment class is kind of almost prehistoric 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:27.520 for some people. I guess it is an order demographic 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:28.720 type of investment. 0:11:28.920 --> 0:11:32.640 You're saying that the digital version is almost is essentially 0:11:32.840 --> 0:11:35.200 like having like a bar of gold kind of at 0:11:35.200 --> 0:11:37.320 the bottom of your bed, but it's being held almost 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:38.640 digitally somewhere. 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:41.800 I mean, yeah, it's it's not great practice told pull 0:11:41.880 --> 0:11:44.600 in underneath your bed I like to put but it is. 0:11:44.640 --> 0:11:46.480 I guess that's the reality of it. 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:52.800 So to recap, cryptocurrency started out because its early users 0:11:52.840 --> 0:11:57.079 deeply distrusted governments and banks. They wanted to store their 0:11:57.080 --> 0:12:01.040 wealth in crypto, safe from the financial woes of the world. 0:12:01.960 --> 0:12:05.120 At the time Allan was selling digital gold. Very few 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:09.320 people had even heard of cryptocurrency. One bitcoin was worth 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:12.480 two hundred and fifty US dollars and now it's worth 0:12:12.520 --> 0:12:16.440 sixty seven thousand US dollars. There were only five hundred 0:12:16.440 --> 0:12:20.040 and fifty digital currencies operating back in twenty fifteen, and 0:12:20.080 --> 0:12:22.440 now there's more than three thousand as it's all become 0:12:22.520 --> 0:12:23.400 more mainstream. 0:12:24.120 --> 0:12:27.439 Absolutely a niche tech that not many of the average 0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:29.960 people would have been involved with. In twenty fifteen, the 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:32.600 market was a lot different than how it is today. 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:36.120 Big Kind was worried about two hundred and fifty dollars. Today, 0:12:36.200 --> 0:12:38.520 I think at the time of recording it's about sixty 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:41.079 seven thousand US. But there was about five hundred and 0:12:41.120 --> 0:12:46.240 fifty digital currencies back in twenty fifteen. There's three thousand 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:50.320 plus today, and the entire crypto market was only worthd 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:54.000 about four billion. I think we're just shy of two 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:56.440 and a half trillion. At the time of recording, it 0:12:56.520 --> 0:12:59.280 was a much different world even back in twenty fifteen. 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:02.200 It's less than you know, nine years ago, but it 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:03.680 was a completely different world back then. 0:13:04.480 --> 0:13:07.440 As Tommy was pouring over all the information I'd sent 0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:10.840 to him before our chat, he spotted a glaring issue, 0:13:11.320 --> 0:13:14.720 a sign that Digital gold Standard had a problem and 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:18.040 was never really going to go anywhere. He brings it 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:18.720 to my attention. 0:13:19.360 --> 0:13:21.800 For our currency to be truly digital, it needs to 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:24.400 be built in the cloud, needs to be built on chain, 0:13:24.559 --> 0:13:27.800 needs to be built within a block So I guess 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:30.079 we have no evidence at this point that actually that 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:32.160 project itself was built on chain. 0:13:32.840 --> 0:13:35.640 And while I've looked, I haven't been able to find 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:39.400 any evidence of a blockchain transaction happening through Allen's Digital 0:13:39.440 --> 0:13:40.280 gold Standard. 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:42.960 It is quite an interesting case, and there is question 0:13:43.000 --> 0:13:46.080 marks around whether it actually was built on chain or not. 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:50.040 Without that address, it's virtually impossible to find out and 0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:53.480 to track where the value was coming from, whether specific 0:13:53.760 --> 0:13:57.120 digital gold tokens were being minted or not. That is 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:00.120 almost impossible, like I said, to track until you have 0:14:00.559 --> 0:14:03.520 the blockchain that it was potentially built on, if it's 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:06.920 bitcoind if it's ethereum Selana, whatever blockchain it was. 0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:11.439 Despite this glaring floor in Allen's vision, Tommy says there 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:15.000 was something to what he was selling. Other cryptocurrencies have 0:14:15.040 --> 0:14:17.000 been set up back on the value of gold. 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:20.520 Yes, it was innovative at the time. You fast forward 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:25.000 twenty twenty four, we have projects like this kind of everywhere. Today. 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:28.560 We have tokens that are backed by track the price 0:14:28.600 --> 0:14:31.680 of gold, and they're kind of quote unquote derivatives of gold. 0:14:32.000 --> 0:14:35.240 I have one final question for Tommy, why would Alan 0:14:35.360 --> 0:14:37.960 set this company up in the Cayman Islands. 0:14:38.280 --> 0:14:41.360 Cama Islands is seen as one of the most conducive 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:46.480 environments or geographies for innovation. They allow more things to 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:49.000 happen where. Things you can do in the Cayman Islands 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:51.600 you can't do in Australia because the regulations won't potentially 0:14:51.640 --> 0:14:54.360 allow you or it hasn't been thought of yet. And 0:14:54.400 --> 0:14:56.800 then the tax heaven kind of elements that you've mentioned 0:14:56.800 --> 0:14:59.400 as well, cost of business, cost of running businesses in 0:14:59.440 --> 0:15:01.800 those areas, they are generally cheaper as well. 0:15:01.880 --> 0:15:05.560 So maybe Allan had something. It wasn't perfect, but it 0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:06.840 could have maybe worked. 0:15:07.200 --> 0:15:07.640 Maybe. 0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:12.040 Despite what Tommy says about the advantages of basing your 0:15:12.040 --> 0:15:15.400 business in the Cayman Islands, they're not really renowned for 0:15:15.440 --> 0:15:19.560 their transparency. When I look into Digital gold Standard, I 0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:23.000 find one reference buried in a one thousand page document 0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:27.880 on the Cayman Islands Gazette. Digital gold Standard is listed 0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:32.040 alongside thousands of other businesses that the island's regulator struck 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:36.320 off in twenty nineteen because of unpaid administrative fees. I 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:39.680 track down a document that says Digital gold Standard was 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:43.640 registered in twenty fifteen when Alan started sprooking the idea 0:15:43.680 --> 0:15:48.080 to investors. Alan's wife, Mary Netcalf, is listed as the 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:52.440 sole remaining director of the business. Digital gold Standard only 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:55.640 had a registered share capital of forty one thousand Cayman 0:15:55.680 --> 0:16:00.000 Islands dollars, which is about seventy four thousand Ausie dollars. 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:03.680 Suggests that Allan's lofty goals of raising eight million dollars 0:16:03.880 --> 0:16:08.480 didn't happen. This document also confirms that Digital gold Standard 0:16:08.560 --> 0:16:12.480 had been shut down in November twenty nineteen. What I 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:14.960 haven't been able to do is track down anyone who 0:16:15.040 --> 0:16:18.960 actually invested in this Digital gold scheme. But Warren Bardon, 0:16:19.200 --> 0:16:22.680 a Western Australian farmer, comes to the rescue the. 0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:27.040 Right further money. He started selling digital gold standardshaws. 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:30.400 You might remember I spoke to Warren in episode four 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:34.600 when I visited Geraldton. So you bought into this digital goal. 0:16:34.720 --> 0:16:35.480 I didn't go into that. 0:16:35.560 --> 0:16:38.400 I'd put enough into it the Metcalf idea, and I 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:39.240 wasn't going to put any more. 0:16:40.840 --> 0:16:44.640 But Warren's late father, Vaughan did. I didn't even know 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:47.840 for sure that anyone had actually invested in Allan's gold 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:53.080 venture until now. Vaughan Bardon has recently passed away, and 0:16:53.160 --> 0:16:56.280 I'm actually speaking to Warren from his father's home as 0:16:56.280 --> 0:16:59.200 he's still sorting out his dad's estate, including looking after 0:16:59.240 --> 0:17:00.560 all the cattle left behind. 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:02.960 I think he trusted it a little bit more than me. 0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:05.600 Why do you say that he put did you? 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:10.639 Yeah, Warren invested twenty thousand dollars, so Vaughan Bardon handed 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:15.040 over more than that. Vaughan did it believing hoping that 0:17:15.119 --> 0:17:18.720 his kids, like Warren and his sister his grandkids, would 0:17:18.760 --> 0:17:21.560 be set up for life. I know that because he 0:17:21.680 --> 0:17:25.440 registered some of the shares in their names. Vaughan Bardon 0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:28.280 died still not knowing what had happened to his investment, 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:32.480 the investment he made into both Safe Worlds and Digital 0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:37.000 gold Standard. Are you okay with us maybe taking a 0:17:37.040 --> 0:17:40.959 few photos of these documents. Up until now, I haven't 0:17:41.000 --> 0:17:45.160 actually seen a Digital Gold shareholder certificate, but Warren has 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:50.159 found one among his father's things, Digital gold Standard incorporated 0:17:50.280 --> 0:17:53.520 under the laws of the Cayman Islands. It reads it's 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:56.560 the fortieth share certificate that was issued, so at least 0:17:56.600 --> 0:18:00.600 thirty nine people invested before Vaughan Bardon. Right at the 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:03.560 top is a dollar sign in a circle that looks 0:18:03.600 --> 0:18:06.399 like a weird take on the bitcoin symbol, which is 0:18:06.440 --> 0:18:09.679 a bee combined with a dollar sign. I've posted the 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:11.800 certificate up on the news dot com dot a U 0:18:11.840 --> 0:18:14.760 website if you want to look for yourself. When my 0:18:14.880 --> 0:18:18.080 producer Nina Young sees the piece of paper, her mind 0:18:18.160 --> 0:18:21.320 is made up. Now that I've seen a certificate, the 0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:22.719 Digital gold doesn't exist. 0:18:23.160 --> 0:18:23.440 Mm. 0:18:23.680 --> 0:18:24.160 Looks fake. 0:18:24.320 --> 0:18:26.359 That's the most fake certificate I've ever seen. 0:18:27.440 --> 0:18:30.760 As crazy as all this gold stuff is, there's something 0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:41.720 else Alan kept hidden from shareholders over the years. Safe 0:18:41.760 --> 0:18:45.240 Wards had also got mixed up with another notorious tax haven, 0:18:45.640 --> 0:18:50.040 the British Virgin Islands, also based in the Caribbean. The 0:18:50.119 --> 0:18:53.679 Virgin Islands has half the population of the Caymans, and 0:18:53.720 --> 0:18:57.200 it's actually ranked as the best tax haven. The Cayman 0:18:57.240 --> 0:19:00.719 Islands comes in second and Bermuda comes in third place. 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:05.280 There's a strange correlation between tax havens and beautiful beaches. 0:19:05.680 --> 0:19:09.720 I'm not sure why. In twenty eighteen, Alan's investors believed 0:19:09.720 --> 0:19:12.760 that they'd found proof of a money trail that ended 0:19:12.800 --> 0:19:17.400 at the British Virgin Islands. Years earlier, Alan had registered 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:23.640 two businesses there, IBS BVII Limited and IBS Shareholders Holding colimited. 0:19:24.240 --> 0:19:28.320 The IBS part stands for Internet Business Systems, but when 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:31.280 I hear this, I think of another abbreviation for IBS, 0:19:31.760 --> 0:19:37.680 irritable bowel syndrome. Perhaps an unfortunate acronym choice there by allan. Anyway, 0:19:38.160 --> 0:19:41.639 investors believed their money had been transferred to these companies 0:19:41.720 --> 0:19:45.160 in the British Virgin Islands without their knowledge or consent. 0:19:45.760 --> 0:19:48.600 Here's an email a group of investors sent to Safforlds 0:19:48.600 --> 0:19:51.680 in twenty eighteen. As their outrage grew. 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:55.600 The shareholders are aware that in twenty ten, a share 0:19:55.640 --> 0:19:59.240 exchange of sixty six million, six hundred and seventy four 0:19:59.280 --> 0:20:02.560 thousand and twenty three shares took place in the USA. 0:20:03.240 --> 0:20:08.120 The shares in Safe World Internet TV, Inc. An unregistered company, 0:20:08.240 --> 0:20:13.119 were exchanged for IBS Inc. Shares, a bankrupt company. The 0:20:13.160 --> 0:20:18.240 shares exchanged were then transmitted to IBS Shareholdings Co. Limited 0:20:18.640 --> 0:20:22.879 of the British Virgin Islands. This transaction is illegitimate and 0:20:22.920 --> 0:20:25.000 thus invalid, and. 0:20:25.240 --> 0:20:28.920 Going back through my files, I dig out old emails 0:20:28.960 --> 0:20:32.520 Allen sent to investors in twenty twelve which support the 0:20:32.560 --> 0:20:35.920 idea of a link to the Virgin Islands. He wrote 0:20:35.920 --> 0:20:39.160 he'd reached an agreement with investors to transfer their shares 0:20:39.240 --> 0:20:42.800 into the IBS business for tax reasons. 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:46.520 The shares will be held in trust until Safe World's 0:20:46.640 --> 0:20:50.040 Television Inc. Is listed and the shares can be sold. 0:20:50.480 --> 0:20:53.679 If they were issued now, it is most likely that 0:20:53.760 --> 0:20:56.520 the value of the shares would be taxable in the 0:20:56.600 --> 0:21:00.200 hands of the recipient. A British Virgin Islands corporate da 0:21:00.760 --> 0:21:01.960 has been established. 0:21:03.880 --> 0:21:07.080 Could this be it? As Safe World's never went public, 0:21:07.600 --> 0:21:11.040 does that mean the shares and therefore the money is 0:21:11.080 --> 0:21:14.840 still there in that trust? A literal pot of gold 0:21:15.160 --> 0:21:19.000 locked up in a company called IBS, which is registered 0:21:19.080 --> 0:21:22.160 in another opaque island, tax haven, on the other side 0:21:22.200 --> 0:21:25.520 of the world. This feels like a pretty amazing moment. 0:21:26.240 --> 0:21:28.960 But straight away I'm thinking what does this mean for 0:21:29.040 --> 0:21:31.639 the six hundred people hoping to see their money again? 0:21:32.280 --> 0:21:35.880 Because how are all these Australian shareholders, especially the ones 0:21:35.920 --> 0:21:39.520 in places like Garyalton, going to navigate the tricky processes 0:21:39.560 --> 0:21:42.560 in the British Virgin Islands to recover their money? And 0:21:42.600 --> 0:21:47.160 what if I'm wrong? So I dig deeper. Alan started 0:21:47.280 --> 0:21:51.680 IBS BVII Limited in nineteen ninety nine, the same year 0:21:51.720 --> 0:21:53.919 he had his epiphany where he discovered the law of 0:21:53.920 --> 0:21:58.080 thought buried in the Bible. This seems important because Alan 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:01.000 appears to have kept this company seek it with no 0:22:01.200 --> 0:22:04.480 mention to shareholders. He'd already started a business in the 0:22:04.560 --> 0:22:08.119 Caribbean Sea years earlier when they were giving him their money. 0:22:09.040 --> 0:22:12.200 Another company was then registered in the British Virgin Islands 0:22:12.240 --> 0:22:16.640 in twenty twelve, this one called IBS Shareholders Holding Co Limited. 0:22:17.119 --> 0:22:19.399 This lines up with when Alan claims to have struck 0:22:19.400 --> 0:22:22.480 an agreement with his investors. For a moment, I think 0:22:22.520 --> 0:22:25.199 I may have stumbled across the final resting place of 0:22:25.240 --> 0:22:28.720 the missing forty nine million. But as I keep skimming 0:22:28.720 --> 0:22:33.560 over these documents, I'm disappointed. Both companies were dissolved in 0:22:33.640 --> 0:22:37.919 July twenty twenty three by pure coincidence. That was a 0:22:37.960 --> 0:22:42.080 week before I first contacted Mary Alan's wife trying to 0:22:42.119 --> 0:22:44.760 find out more about him as part of this investigation. 0:22:45.840 --> 0:22:48.480 So if there was any money still in those businesses, 0:22:48.560 --> 0:22:51.320 where could it have gone. It's not a simple case 0:22:51.359 --> 0:22:54.800 of X marking the spot. Unfortunately, the fact he. 0:22:54.800 --> 0:22:58.480 Set up in the British Virgin Islands is interesting to 0:22:58.520 --> 0:23:02.679 me because I've traced money to the Camans before and 0:23:02.880 --> 0:23:07.159 I had bank records. But when I was comparing, like, 0:23:07.200 --> 0:23:09.159 what's the benefit of setting up a company in the 0:23:09.200 --> 0:23:13.119 British Version Islands versus the Caymans. British Version Islands, you 0:23:13.119 --> 0:23:16.040 don't have to disclose who owns what, and it seemed 0:23:16.080 --> 0:23:18.840 like it was a much greater hurdle than even in 0:23:18.880 --> 0:23:19.400 the Caymans. 0:23:20.160 --> 0:23:24.119 This is Leah Wheatolta. She's an ex FBI agent turned 0:23:24.160 --> 0:23:28.399 private detective. Leah runs her own podcast called Data Sleuth, 0:23:28.840 --> 0:23:31.800 where she specializes in following money trails, which is how 0:23:31.840 --> 0:23:34.439 I heard about her. She has long dark hair and 0:23:34.480 --> 0:23:37.320 glasses and listens patiently as I tell her what I 0:23:37.359 --> 0:23:41.080 know about the late Alan Metcalf. The private detective is 0:23:41.200 --> 0:23:43.560 right about the hurdles I had to jump over to 0:23:43.600 --> 0:23:47.760 find out information, any information at all about companies and 0:23:47.800 --> 0:23:51.080 the British Virgin Islands, and why it's so popular for 0:23:51.160 --> 0:23:55.240